A rising problem and also opportunity for telecommunication companies today is the increased use of data transmissions primarily through customer use of the Internet. In addition, business customers are increasingly using the Internet or company Intranets for communication, access and transfer of data. While this increased level of activity provides increased business opportunities for the telecommunication companies, unfortunately a significant part of this activity tied up local resources for long periods of time using low margin billing structures.
Unlike the majority of voice telephone calls, the majority of modem calls accessing an Internet service provider's point-of-presence or an Intranet's point-of-presence often last hours. In addition, in some instances the line connecting the modem with the Internet service provider is maintained for hours, often with the transmission of little if any data. Many Internet service provides automatically disconnect users if the resources are not used after a specific period (usually 15 to 20 minutes).
The major problem is resource utilization of analog lines. Where as digital modems packetized data and share switching resources, analog modems tie up the same resources as an analog voice call. The switch must allocate a time slice to the call and resources are used whether data is being exchanged, or the user is off getting a donut. Many users dial up their Internet service first thing in the morning and don't disconnect until late at night. This type of usage can cause a shortage of resources for analog voice calls. Telecommunication companies are forced to add resources to handle the additional traffic load while the revenue collected from customers using these resources is treated as a voice analog call.
This problem also exists in hotels catering to business travelers. Valuable private branch exchange resources are tied up catering to business travelers who are accessing the Internet or their company's Intranet. In most major hotels, local calls either are free or require a nominal charge of less than one dollar. While most local hotel calls last less than ten minutes, the same local modem calls to a customer's Internet service provider last significantly longer. However, while the hotel receives the same revenue for each call, the hotel must support a larger private branch exchange (PBX) system to support customer making modem calls several lasting hours.
A need exists for telecommunication companies to recognize the incoming call as a modem call and route billing messages so that the customer is billed at a rate that differs from local traffic. In addition, operators of private branch exchanges also need to recognize modem calls from local calls, where in certain locations such as hotel operations, new sources of revenue can be obtained from customers.